A Course in Miracles Chapter 7: The Gifts of the Kingdom

The title for chapter 7 is The Gifts of the Kingdom.Within this chapter are the following sub-titles: The Last Step, The Law of the Kingdom, The Reality of the Kingdom, Healing as the Recognition of Truth, Healing and the Changelessness of Mind, From Vigilance to Peace, The Totality of the Kingdom, The Unbelievable Belief, The Extension of the Kingdom, The Confusion of Pain and Joy, and The State of Grace.

“Inspiration is of the Holy Spirit and certainty comes from the laws of God.” Too often we have confused the laws of man (ego, based in fear) as being the laws of God. The laws of man are applicable only to this physical realm. The laws of God (based in love) are applicable on earth and in every realm ever created for all eternity. Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, means to seek to live by the laws of God rather than the laws of man. These laws are some of the gifts of the Kingdom.

There is a spiritual law of projection and extension which is the law by which you were created by God and given the ability to create. To the ego, the law is perceived as a means of getting rid of something it does not want (projection). To the Holy Spirit, it is the law of sharing or extension, by which you give what you value in order to keep it. “The law therefore produces abundance or scarcity, depending on how you choose to apply it. This choice is up to you, but it is not up to you to decide whether or not you will utilize the law. Every mind must project or extend, because that is how it lives and every mind is life.”

When it speaks of creating it is referring to your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, experiences and relationships. The ego inspires creations from fear and the Holy Spirit inspires creations from love. Love always extends outward as love cannot be contained, it is designed to be shared and experienced. God is one with everything he created, therefore you are also one with all of creation. When you fully comprehend this law of God, you will understand the power that resides within you and create things from a place of love rather than fear.

When you choose to create with fear, you feel deprived of things and believe you have to compete/attack others to get what you need/want in life because you see yourself as separate from everything, being unequal, judging one person as better than another. ACIM teaches that, “Whenever you deny a blessing to a brother you will feel deprived because denial is as total as love. You need the blessing you can offer him. There is no way for you to have it except by giving it. This is the law of God, and it has no exceptions. What you deny you lack, not because it is lacking, but because you have denied it in another and are therefore not aware of it in yourself. Give therefore, of your abundance, and teach your brothers theirs. Do not share their illusions of scarcity, or you will perceive yourself as lacking. The egos picture of you is deprived, unloving and vulnerable. You cannot love this. Do not see this picture in anyone, or you have accepted it as you. Teach no one that he is what you would not want to be. Your brother is the mirror in which you see the image of yourself. See the Love of God in you, and you will see it everywhere because it is everywhere. See his abundance in everyone, and you will know that you are in him with them. They are part of you, as you are part of God.”

In the divisive world in which we live, I believe this is a great teaching we can all learn from as it changes the perception of how we see everyone which in turn changes how we interact with them.